Star Tribune talks to President Anderson about college ratings plan
St. Olaf College President David R. Anderson ’74 tells the Star Tribune that he’s “very dubious” about President Obama’s proposed college ranking system.
The rankings would place emphasis on measurable outcomes, such as graduation rates and post-graduation incomes, that St. Olaf performs very well on. But, as Anderson noted on his blog yesterday, “The efficacy of the president’s plan, if it is adopted, will depend considerably on whether these measurements are applicable to all institutions and whether they yield accurate data.”
St. Olaf already outlines many of these measurements on its Outcomes page, which provides data to support the return on investing in a St. Olaf education.
“We’re not ashamed of the cost of a St. Olaf education in relation to the value that’s received,” Anderson told the Star Tribune. “So the president’s not going to shame our institution with a public-relations campaign.”